Cat Chat Feline Forum

Ever since Pugwash arrived eight months ago, and noticeable in just about every pic I've ever taken of him, his tail has been firmply clamped down with the end practically on the floor. It's also usually constantly swishing from side to side.

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However, over the past couple of weeks I've noticed he's starting to carry it a little higher from time to time. It still barely goes above the horizontal, and you can see that the fur is so used to lying flat down that it's looking all ruffled at the base of his tail. I don't really know what the significance is, but I'm hoping that it's a sign that he's finally beginning to realise that he's safe, and loved, and doesn't have to be permanently skulking and on the defensive anymore. Of course, the tail comes up more often when there's food about .... as you can see by the milky chops!

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And I just had to post this - even with the milky chops you can see why we call him Puggy the Thuggy sometimes!

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I always wonder about the tail up. I wonder if it is partly an age thing.about it. Ingrid holds her tail up not just straight, but right over, so it is touching her back. Laz never held his tail up and nor did Alice. Kylie does, but only when she is walking up the greet me. I do think the tail up (if they can manage it) is a sign of confidence though.

PS Dom manages almost vertical, although I remember reading that 'large' cats find it difficult to raise their tails

Merrick does that! I can't find a better pic of it, but when he's pleased to see you he holds his tail curled right over his back like a teapot handle!

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I've always though the tail up was a sign of confidence and a happy cat. All of mine (except Puggy of course) hold theirs up, especially when they come out to greet me when I get home and we all head for the front door together, though a couple have a bend in it like a question mark.

Daz has an enormous great fat tail, and I know if he's feeling playful because he runs off with it sticking out sideways!

Oooh Helen - love that cat! The third photo - we call that 'snake eyes', Gracie does it all the time!

I've noticed the girls use their tails for signalling a lot more than the boys. Willow and Purdy sometimes hold their tails to the side (don't know what that means) or flick them over their backs.

Little Poppy would greet me with her little, croaky mew and flick her tail over her back several times. it is one of the things I still miss.

OH and I were recently talking about Katie's tail (our much missed Lurcher) She was very much an Alpha dog and would wade in to any arguement to sort it out, including a cat fight 'hey, I'm not having any of that, stop it!' We always knew what she was about to do as she held her tail straight up in the air, like a flag and stiffened all her legs (almost standing on tip toe) before she charged into the fray. Nobody argued with Kate and you can't say they were not warned!

Lots of fusses to the wonderful Puggy.

Aww, hasn't he made a fabulous cat! I wish the people who neglected/abandoned him could see him now.

I think some cats fluff out the base of their tail when they're feeling pleased/excited. Someone, I think it was a vet, once told me that 'God put that tail there to stop your hand sliding off the cat's back' lol. Certainly Emily's tail shoots up automatically when I stroke her back - spring has sprung!

When Molly's pleased she prances ahead of me with her ears flat and her tail straight up. Also, although she's still very chancy about whether she wants to be stroked or not, her tail is always a safe bet - you'd think it would be the most vulnerable part of the cat but I can never go wrong, stroking her tail.

Finn used to like his tail stroked and held. He had Siamese cheekbones, a portly body in between, and a tail like a piece of string. When I knew him as a feral, if he saw anyone coming towards him, he'd scuttle, with his backside tucked in like a scared dog's, and his tail right down. Most undignified. After he took possession here and regained his confidence, he never did that again. In fact he, incredibly, welcomed everybody, stringy tail on high! Also he lost his tomcat jowls. As a full tom he had these things like shoulderpads stuck to his cheeks - as the testosterone died down, so did the jowls and he got his cheekbones back.

(Forgive me for writing so much about Finn btw. He died in Sept 13 but he's still with us, I swear...)

The pics of Puggy are gorgeous - oh and how's Greebo getting along? Fusses to them both

It's an interesting one - Ava and Harry definitely are tail up in air cats; and I do think it's a breed thing with them; they're both NFC's and I don't think I've ever seen them with their tail down. Whereas the Maine Coon's in the neighbourhood all tend to carry their tail down

Henry usually has his dragging behind him - again I think it's a breed thing - he is 1/2 Persian and I gather they're a tail down breed? I've never seen his up

Abbie, Jamie and Monty tend to walk with theirs down, but the moment they interact with either me or another cat it goes up; definitely a sign they're happy and comfy. Tail down when they interact means not happy

There are a few 'cat tail' charts on the interweb, and most seem to say that tail up is happy (except the full-on bottle-brush angry tail):

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I do think it must vary according to breed, though. Grumpy Nellie is a DSH type, little and compact, and her (quite short) tail goes naturally straight up and stays there most of the time, whereas Merrick is a pointy, rangy sort of cat with a long low-slung tail (I've always though he has some Siamese in him) that hangs down like a panther's when he's relaxed, even though it does go right over his back when he's happy. Of the other two, Daz's is more like Nellie's - short and naturally straight up, and Basil's more like Merrick's - long and low-slung.

Finn's tail sounds a bit like Pugwash's - his is a ratty little thing, especially as it's mostly clamped right down!

8 months already?!!!

What a transformation

Tig has a curly over tail, normally when he's trying to charm you into giving him more food... Pip and Noodley hold theirs at half mast unless interacting with each other or me when it goes up. Noodles also curls right over on occasion too although I've never really paid much too attention to when that is!

Lol - Emily and Mouse are great at what I call the 'flittering' tail - that is, held up like a clothespole and vibrating nineteen to the dozen!

The 'getting upset' tail on that chart though - I've seen that with cats who are mildly interested, say in something attracting their attention.

There is also the elderly cat (now Finn was expert at this with the small Molly) who lies down, looks over its shoulder and twitches the end of its tail for the pleasure of the watching kitten: yes, you may approach...you may even toy with the end of my tail...

And the Grand Tail Bash.

I first saw this in my TV watching days (haven't watched TV in 20 years) during a documentary on lions. A group of intruding males had fought off the resident males of a pride and killed the cubs (shame on them) and so the females had come back into oestrus. They marched round the males and literally SWATTED them over their superior noses with their tails to signal that they were available - probably to spread the delicious pheromonal aroma too lol.

Emily, though spayed, does this to me, for food or just love, she comes and really WHACKS my legs with her tail: 'Oy! I'm here!'

Could he have a neurological problem with his spine at the base of the tail????
That might explain his reluctance ( or inability) to raise his tail too far..maybe an old injury?

just a thiought.....